“Did you want to stay for lunch?” Kimber asked.
I shook my head. “I think I should probably be going.”
Clint probably had about two more minutes before he barged back into the strip club and let his top blow more than he already had.
“She has her puppy outside waiting for her,” Zephyr laughed. “Maybe next time, you should tie him to a tree when you have to go in somewhere.”
I rolled my eyes. This was a getting a little too much for me. “I’ll see you guys tonight.”
Quinn smirked and nodded his head.
My eyes connected with Jax’s.
I wanted to ask why Jax had to be the one to go with me to Steph’s, but I didn’t.
Whatever answer they would offer me wouldn’t matter. He would still be the one going.
“See you tonight, babe.”
Quinn’s words sent a shiver through my body. Dammit. “Sounds like a plan,” I muttered back.
I turned on my heel and almost ran out of the strip club.
Jesus.
“Maybe next time you should just leave me in the car and crack a window,” Clint called.
I had managed to escape the clubhouse, but now I had to deal with Clint and his wounded ego.
“You do know we’re supposed to be the ones who keep our cool and don’t sink to their level, right?” I growled. I whipped open my door and glared at Clint over the top of the car. “You kept your cool for two seconds before you acted just like them.”
Clint laid his hands on the top of the car. “They called me your puppy, Kaye. What in the hell was I supposed to say to that?”
“How about nothing? Act like you didn’t hear them and try to not fly off the handle before we take down these assholes.”
“We should be taking down the Kings of Vengeance,” Clint muttered. “You know they have done some bad shit, Kaye.”
Clint wasn’t wrong. I had no confirmation of any of the rumors, but rumors didn’t start out of thin air. There was always some truth behind them. “Yup, they have, Clint. But you and I both know that at the end of the day, the only reasons the Kings have done what they have was because they were wronged.”
“So that makes blowing up a fucking block, okay?” Clint spat. “We can’t get our hands on these guys for what they did before, so now we are going to work with them? Give them a free pass?”
It didn’t, but I wasn’t going to focus on that. “Look, we have bigger fish to fry, Clint. You need to put aside your fragile ego when it comes to the Kings and suck it up. Ignore them and focus on the big picture.”
Clint shook his head. “Whatever, Kaye. If this doesn’t lead to a huge fucking arrest, you can bet your ass I’m knocking out each one of those assholes.” Clint flung his door open and slid into the car. He slammed the door and rocked the whole car.
“Jesus,” I mumbled.
I was going to be insane by the time all of this was over.
Between dealing with Clint and the Kings, and then also whatever the hell was going on with Jax, yeah, insane was right.
I needed to focus on what was happening right now and deal with everything else later.
First, I was going to drop Clint’s ass off at the station, then run to the store to get womanly things for tonight.
He wasn’t going to be part of my field trip to the mall. Hell, I didn’t even want to be a part of it.
I sighed and slid my sunglasses over my eyes. This day had started out boring, but it seemed like it was going to end with bang.
*
Chapter Ten
Precious cargo…
Brick
I scrubbed my hands down my face and stared back at myself in the mirror.
Anger tightened my fists on the counter. Why had Quinn agreed to Kaye to come along tonight? Having her there was just going to cause problems. As far as Wrigley knew, he was meeting Steph. Now, it was going to be me, Steph, and Kaye.
If that didn’t send him running for the hills or suspicious as fuck, then I don’t know what would. Unexpected visitors were not something drug dealers liked.
“Yo,” Quinn called.
I leaned to the side and saw him standing in the doorway to my room. “You come here to tell me you invited your ol’ lady and Santa to come with me tonight?”
Quinn chuckled and shook his head. “I’m sure Kimber would love to come along just to piss me off, but I’m pretty sure Santa won’t be there.”
I turned on the faucet and grabbed my toothbrush. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that.” I squirted a thick dallop of toothpaste on the toothbrush and shoved it in my mouth.
Quinn moved to the door to the bathroom and leaned against the frame. “Just came in to check on you. Kimber told me she talked about you assimilating, and I wanted to make sure she didn’t step out of line.”
I shook my head, spit a wad into the sink, and rinsed my brush under the water. “She was fine. Your ol’ lady was just trying to be nice.” I scrubbed the brush one more time around my mouth and spit again. “You might want to talk about her bathroom habits at work, though.”
Quinn tipped his head to the side. “You know, I should be used to all the crazy thing Kimber says or does, but I don’t think I even want to know what you are talking about.”
I dropped the toothbrush next to the sink. “Yeah, you get those chicks together and things get crazy.”
“Bingo,” Quinn laughed. “They keep each other busy, but they also keep us busy when they get together.”
I brushed past Quinn, walked over to my dresser, pulled out a black t-shirt, and tugged it over my head. “Something else you want to talk about?” I asked.
Quinn shrugged. “Not really. Just want to make sure you’re okay with all this stuff going on with Kaye. I know it can’t be easy for you to see her.”
“You think about that when you told her she could come with me tonight?” I grunted. “You pinning her on me through this could end up with both of us dead.”
I didn’t know what I was walking into tonight. Did I think there were going to be problems? Hopefully not, but I never walked into a situation thinking it was going to go exactly to plan.
Hell, even when I was dealing to get my brother out of hot water, I knew that I could get busted and go to prison. Didn’t think it would be Kaye to put me there, but that was a curveball no one could have seen coming.
“Bro,” Quinn laughed. “She’s gotta be good at undercover work since she got your ass, and you were sleeping in the same bed as her.”
I rolled my eyes and sat on the edge of the bed to pull on my boots. “It’s not like I was dealing to Kaye who was in a bad wig and a mustache, Quinn. She was sitting in a van a block away watching me on camera.”
Quinn shrugged. “Whatever, brother. You can’t sit there and tell me you don’t think she’s good at her job.”
That wasn’t what I was saying, but what I really meant was I didn’t want her there because when Kaye was around, I couldn’t focus.
For five years, I had told myself that I hated her, and I didn’t want anything to do with her ever again.
Now, here I was, getting showered, dressed, and ready to ride with her on the back of my bike. “I just want to get this shit over, Quinn, and get on with the easy and carefree life I told myself I was going to have.” I pointed my finger at him. “You even told me that life was going to be good when I got out if I came to the Kings of Vengeance.” I stood and ran my fingers through my hair. “Tell me when that starts?”
“As soon as we take care of the Devil’s Rebels,” Quinn promised.
I shook my head. “Something tells me this isn’t going to be as easy as you think it is. Sure, we might be able to get this dealer on our side, but you really think tomorrow we’ll be knocking down doors and putting an end to this?”
“No, not at all. Though, I think we’ll be one step closer to making shit happen which is better than where we are sitting right now.”
Quinn nodded to my cut that was draped ove
r the back of the chair. “How long until you can put that on?” he asked.
I eyed the leather vest with the Kings of Vengeance logo on the back and my name on the lapel. “Twenty-three months?” It was a long fucking time. While I was on parole, I couldn’t wear anything with gang paraphernalia on it. The Kings weren’t a gang, but in the eyes of the law, they were. I also had a fucking curfew, but luckily, I had a cool as fuck PO who was laidback about what I did if I didn’t get into any trouble with the law. That’s the only reason I was even allowed to live at the clubhouse since none of the guys had charges against them or were felons. I literally had one more strike and then my ass was back in prison forever. I wasn’t going to chance it by wearing my cut. I had to walk the line for the next two years, and then, I would be completely free.
“Damn, brother. But it works in our favor right now. Most of the town knows who is part of the club by their cut. You haven’t been wearing yours, so you’re not going to be recognized. If this dealer is anyone, they would know one of the other guys.”
I nodded and reached for my gold necklace. I draped it around my neck and clipped the clasp shut. “I get it, Quinn. I just wish we didn’t have to have Kaye involved in this.”
“You think she is going to flip on us?”
I shook my head and dropped my hands to my side. “No.”
“You sure? She could get the information she wants and then throw us right into the cell next to the Devil’s Rebels.” Quinn moved toward the door and trailed his fingers over the desk. “I know we signed that contract or whatever the hell she called it, but in the end, she’s the cops, and we’re going to break the law. Look what happened to you.”
I shook my head. “What happened to me was my own damn fault. It wasn’t like Kaye got together with me to throw me in prison. We were good for a year, and then, I fucked up. It just so happened I fucked up right in front of her, and she couldn’t turn a blind eye to it. Kaye is good at her job, and she sticks to her word. She said we would be free of charges in the end, and I believe her.”
Quinn nodded. “Well, I guess that is going to have to be good enough for me right now. You trust her, then I gotta trust her.”
“You’re bringing me this worry after we signed the agreement?” I chuckled. “Maybe we should have discussed this a few days ago.”
Quinn smiled. “Well, we haven’t incriminated ourselves yet. After tonight, that won’t be true.”
I bumped my fist against Quinn’s. “Don’t worry too much, brother. Everything is going to work out how it should.” At least, that was what I kept telling myself.
“Hot cop is here,” someone bellowed down the hallway.
Quinn leaned against the door frame. “How do you feel about that?”
I rolled my eyes, grabbed the keys to my bike, and shoved them in my pocket. Quinn watched me grab my leather jacket off the bed and shrug it on. “I didn’t really think I would be asked about my feelings as much as I am.”
“Well, I bet you also didn’t think that you would be going undercover with your hot cop ex-girlfriend.”
I moved past Quinn and managed to slug him in the stomach. “Stop calling her hot,” I growled.
Quinn held his hand to his stomach and gasped. “I guess that answers my question on how you feel about the guys calling her hot.”
I didn’t like, but I knew I shouldn’t care. Kaye and I were in the past, and that was where we needed to stay.
I walked down the hallway and into the common room.
Kimber, Fancy, and Petra were lounging on the couch while Lynn and Deedra were at the bar with Point and Zephyr behind it.
I barely saw them. My eyes focused on Kaye who was talking to Queenie by the front door.
This was the Kaye I knew before I went to prison. She didn’t look like she was ready to arrest the next criminal who passed in front of her. She looked like she was ready to drink a few beers and hang out with her friends.
The jeans she wore hugged her thighs, and her white t-shirt stretched tight over her breasts. She had a dark leather jacket draped over her arm and black boots on her feet. She looked like she was made to be on the back of my bike or in the backroom of a bar playing pool.
She looked hot as fuck.
“Bro, the crimes I would commit just to be able to sit in the backseat of her cop car.” Core walked up behind me and folded his arms over his chest. “She’s too hot to be a cop.”
“Call her hot one more time, Core, and I’m going to knock your fucking lights out. You dig?” I growled.
Core held up his hands. “Sorry, sorry. I thought she was free-range, brother.”
“She’s a fucking woman, not a damn cow out in the pasture,” Quinn laughed.
“Do I even want to know?” Kimber called.
“Nah, babe. Just Core being a dumbass.” Quinn clapped Core on the shoulder.
“Don’t be mean to Core, Quinn. You know I don’t like that,” Kimber warned. Kimber had a huge soft spot for Core, and I just didn’t get it. There was something about him that made me uneasy. He said he was all in for the club, but I couldn’t help but feel that if all the chips were in and the Kings were down, Core would flip in an instant.
“Kaye and I better get going. Steph set up for the guy to come over around nine, and I want to go over the plan with her before.” I made my way over to Kaye, and her eyes flicked to me when I was halfway across the room.
“Well, if it isn’t the shit brick house himself,” Queenie crowed.
Kaye smothered a laugh with the back of her hand.
“You got your words mixed up, babe,” Sledge called. “You literally just called him a shitty house.”
Queenie held up her empty glass and squinted. “I didn’t think I drank all of this.”
“Your tongue says you did,” Fancy laughed. “He’s built like a brick shithouse, Queen.”
Queenie waved her hand at me. “You know what I mean. You’re big and…” She dropped her hand. “I should probably stop talking before I say something that is going to end me up sleeping in Hunter’s crib tonight.”
“Wise,” Sledge grunted.
“You ready?” I asked Kaye. I wanted to get out of here before anyone else commented on the way Kaye or I looked. Shit was weird to hear.
Kaye nodded. “Are we taking your bike?”
“Unless you want to take the creeper van,” I laughed. We all hated that thing, but it was good for hauling everyone around. Once the snow started flying, we were going to be driving it a hell of a lot more. “This will probably be the last time I’m able to take the bike out.”
Kaye shrugged on her jacket. “I guess it’s a good thing I came prepared, then.”
I opened the door and held it wide. Kaye gave a small wave to everyone and walked out.
“Good luck,” Quinn called.
I raised my hand over my head and followed Kaye.
She stopped in front of the row of bikes. “Uh, they all look the same in the dark.”
I chuckled and moved to my bike at the end of the row. “In the daylight, you can spot Core’s from a mile away. Dyno spray painted the tank neon fucking pink the other day.”
Kaye laughed and stepped next to me. “Why would he do that?”
I shrugged and climbed onto the bike. “Why does Dyno do anything? If I had to guess, it was probably because he thought Core didn’t help enough with something over at the strip club.” I reached for the helmet I had hanging on the handlebars and handed it to Kaye. “Put that on, babe.”
She took it and plopped it on her head. “Is there a reason why you’re not going to wear one?” she asked. She snapped the buckled under her chin and glared at me.
I hitched my chin over my shoulder. “Gotta keep the precious cargo safe.”
Kaye rolled her eyes. “Lame, Jax. Lame and corny.”
May have been corny, but it was the truth.
Kaye climbed on behind me and laid her hands on my waist. “I was pretty surprised that you guys were doing all o
f the work over at the funeral home.”
Just like Kaye to sidestep around me calling her precious cargo. “We’re cheap,” I chuckled. I started the bike and glanced over my shoulder at Kaye. “You ready to do this?”
Kaye sighed and nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Hold on tight, babe.” I knocked up the kickstand and roared out of the parking lot.
Having Kaye on the back of my bike was something I never thought I would feel again. Her thighs were pressed against me, and her arms wrapped around my waist.
It almost felt like before I went to prison.
Almost.
*
Chapter Eleven
Contact made…
Kaye
“I don’t think I can do this.” Steph ran her fingers through her hair and paced back and forth in front of the TV. “What if I say something wrong and then Wrigley knows we’re setting up?” she babbled.
Jax sat back in the couch and kicked up his feet on the coffee table.
We were going downhill fast.
When we had knocked on the door, it had seemed like Steph was cool, calm, and collected, but as soon as she shut the door, she freaked out and hadn’t stop.
“He’s not going to know, Steph. It’s not like we’re going to bust him or something. We’re making a deal and that’s it,” I promised.
“If that’s all we’re doing, then why are you two here?” she worried. “I can do that by myself.”
Yeah, I didn’t think so. It was amazing anyone even sold to Steph with the way she was acting. I had to wonder if she used before because she needed something to calm her down.
“Yeah, I don’t really think you can. Maybe you should have a drink or something to help chill you out,” Jax suggested. “You’re making me anxious.”
I pointed at Jax and shook my head. “No. Drinking is not a good idea. We all need to be clearheaded going into this.”
Jax sprawled his arms on the back of the couch. “I am clearheaded, babe. It’s calamity Jane here who needs to take a fucking pill.”
“He’s right. Do you think I could have just one pill once we make the deal?” she asked.
Blacktop Freedom (Kings of Vengeance MC Book 7) Page 8
